The Undisputable Truths
by meg596
Summary: There were many Truths that Emma Wheeler learned growing up, one however was about to come crumbling before her eyes.


Emma Wheeler was sure of two things in her life

1\. Her uncle was the best hockey player in the world

2\. Her father was the coolest dad ever.

The first thing may not be completely true, but the second thing was. At sixteen Emma had reached a stage where she had rebelled against her father and could not understand why he kept trying to keep her innocent. That was until she thought she might have been pregnant. At sixteen she wasn't quite sure if she should tell anyone, but she knew she had too. So, she told her Aunt Riley and after being scolded so severely Emma thought she'd never get over it, Riley took her to the doctors. It turned out that no, she was not pregnant. The stick gave a false positive and she was being sick due to stress. Emma had begged Riley not to tell her father, but Riley had told him anyway. In that moment Emma had never hated her aunt more. Her father however just sat the teen down and told her that whilst what she did was extremely stupid, he hoped that it taught her a lesson. He had then smiled and hugged her, promising that if he saw any boys sneaking out of her room he would break their legs.

Emma had learned may things growing up such as her mother was a flake, he grandma was not someone to be messed with and Tucker, while being slightly erratic had the biggest heart of anyone she had ever met. The biggest thing she learnt though was that her father always had her back. At 18 she had graduated high school and wanted nothing more than to become an author. A weird profession, she was aware of that. Most teens had dreams of becoming superstars, but Emma just wanted to share her works with the world. So, she applied for Cambridge university, it was purely on a whim as she thought she had no chance of getting in. She did however and after the initial excitement a sense of dread suddenly hit her. Her family would never let her jet off to England to pursue her dreams. Her friends encouraged them to tell them however and their reactions were pretty much how she pictured them. Her grandma told her no outright as if she had any say in the matter, tucker was proud but reserved. Riley told her that she should do it whilst Danny told her that there were plenty of universities in America that would except her. Her father however said nothing, instead he walked into the kitchen pulled out a bottle of scotch and poured himself a glass. And listened to everyone bicker. He eventually grew tired of this however and stood up, placed his hands around his mouth in a circular shape and yelled  
"ENOUGH" suddenly the room went quiet as they all turned to the baby daddy.  
"Guys can you give me and Emma the room please? This conversation is between my daughter and I" after much grumbling everyone left daughter and daddy alone. Ben motioned for Emma to follow him as they walked into her bedroom He sat on her bed and patted the space next to him. They sat in silence for a moment as Emma waited apprehensively for what her father would say.  
"You know I never thought we'd get here. I thought I'd have screwed you up before this point" Emma didn't say anything, her fathers fear of being a bad dad were well known.  
"I always kind of thought you'd go one of two ways, pregnant before your time or becoming a better person than myself, I'm glad to see it's the later." Emma smiled  
"You're a good person dad"  
"Yeah because I have you, I'm not a mean person sweetheart but I certainly wasn't a good one" he took a deep breath.  
"I'm not smart, academically at least and as far as I know neither was your mother but I'm so glad you are. You make me so proud you know?" Emma rolled her eyes, he told her this at least once a day.  
"I know you want to write stories and if going to England helps you do that then I say you do it" Emma felt her heart explode  
"But I expect a phone call every night telling me you're okay and you have to come home every holiday." Emma laughed  
"I'll call you once a week"  
"Three times a week or I'm flying over there" Emma laughed, she knew he wasn't joking. Ben Wheeler was fiercely protective of his daughter.  
"I also expect you to keep up with your studies, If I get even a hint that you're falling behind you can kiss Cambridge goodbye as I'll be dragging you home." Emma nodded.  
"I won't, thanks dad" Ben Wheeler just nodded. He knew sending her off would be the hardest decision he would ever have to make but if his mother taught him anything it's to support his kid no matter what.  
"I love you kiddo"  
"I love you too."  
And as it was three months later Emma was heading off on her epic journey. It was in that moment though that she knew unequivocally that her father had her back. Pretty much her entire family told her she was crazy and that her father was an idiot, but Ben Wheeler had smiled and said it would all be worth it when Emma was a famous writer.

When Emma was nineteen however the fourth thing she had thought was true crumbled before her eyes. All her life her father had always been around, cheering her on from the side-lines. However, when her teacher pulled her out of lesson and took her to the headmaster's office she found that maybe her father always wouldn't be around. When she got to the office she found Tucker sat there, his face solemn.  
"Uncle Tucker, what are you doing here?" Tucker stared at her for a moment before standing up.  
"Emma… it's your daddy" Emma stared at him for a moment before realising what he was implying.  
"No… NO" she yelled. Tucker stepped forwards and despite being half a foot shorter than her pulled into a hug as she crumbled into his arms.

It took Emma just shy of nine hours to get to her father's hospital and when she did she found her family looking solemn.  
"He's not…" she couldn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew where her train of thought was heading. Bonnie pulled her into a hug  
"No darling, he's not gone"  
"What happened?" she asked. Danny walked towards her  
"He found out shortly after you left… we didn't know Emma-bear. I swear. He got cancer…. It just came so quickly."  
"They can cure it, though right?" she asked desperately. It was the look on their faces which told her all she needed.  
"I think it's time you went in to see him" Emma nodded numbly as slowly walked into the room her father laid.

Ben Wheeler laid on his bed with a drip in his wrist, he looked pale and sickly and Emma couldn't picture her father as the man in the bed. She tiptoed forward  
"Daddy?" she whispered. Her father looked up  
"Emma!" she walked forward and sat on his bed.  
"This wasn't how I imagined seeing you for the holidays" Ben said and despite the situation she laughed. Humour was always her dads defence to a bad situation.  
"How's school?" he asked. She nodded  
"It's okay… I did my final exam a couple of days ago and my professor likes my first draft" Emma had spent her free time drafting a story. Ben had read a couple of pages and found himself pleasantly liking her story.  
"He wants to help me redraft it and send it to a publisher he knows" Ben smiled. He may be dying but hearing of Emma's plans filled him with pride.  
"That's amazing Honey!"  
"I kind of might not accept though… like with everything going on… I just…" Emma trailed off and if possible, Ben paled even more  
"Emma… accept the offer… I-I-I might not be around much longer, and I want to go knowing you will be okay" Emma felt herself begin to cry.  
"No… daddy… you're going to be fine. They'll save you and… and…" she began to sob, and Ben felt his heart break.  
"I. I can't lose you daddy, you're all I've got" with a strength Ben didn't know he processed he pulled his little girl into his arms.  
"You see that rat-tag group of people out there? You have them… besides you're a strong, independent woman now. A woman who's going to be a rich and famous author you don't need me anymore." Emma continued to sob as her father held her.  
"I do need you daddy, I always have. You're the only one that sees the best in me and listens to me without judgement and always supports me, how am I supposed to live without you?" her question however went by unanswered as her father's arms slipped away and he began breathing slower. Suddenly the room was filled with nurses which restrained her father and pulled Emma away whilst she screamed.  
"NO DADDY DON'T GO I LOVE YOU" but he never said he loved her back and as Emma watched as the nurses tried to revive her father she realised. She realised that one of the undisputable truths she held close to her heart was a lie, her father would not always be around.


End file.
